The Segregated Palestinian Buses Hoax

Next week, I’m going to be taking a segregated bus to Lakewood, New Jersey. It’s segregated because it just goes from New York to New Jersey, while completely shutting out the people of Arizona, Florida and California who might also want to ride the bus, but can’t because the segregationist Transit Authority only runs it between New York and New Jersey.

Next month, I’m going to fly on a segregated plane to Toronto. It’s segregated because it only goes from JFK to Toronto Pearson International Airport… and does not stop in any part of Mexico, Europe or Asia.

On Sunday, I’ll be riding a segregated No. 1 subway train to the Bronx that for various racist reasons refuses to stop in Staten Island.

If you think these examples are stupid… so is the Segregated Palestinian Bus Hoax that has been making the rounds of the lefty media always looking for a fresh Israeli outrage.

This is like calling an American bus line from the Mexican border to El Paso a segregated bus because it serves workers from Mexico traveling into El Paso.

This is being described as segregation because there is now a direct bus service that doesn’t force workers from the Palestinian Authority zones to travel to Israeli towns and villages to board mass transit. And even more horrifyingly, it’s being advertised in Arabic.

Information on the new services, which are operated by the company Afikim, have reportedly only been advertised in Arabic and distributed only in Palestinian areas of the West Bank.

Shocking. It’s like the bus company is advertising a useful service to the people who will use it.

Anti-Israel bloggers have tried to sell the segregation hoax by claiming that Israel banned PA residents from buses that stop in Israeli areas. There is no such ban. No one has been banned from Israeli buses.

The claim that the buses were introduced because of complaints from Jewish “settlers” holds no water. If Israel were going to do that, it could have done it a while back.

Israel is making life easier for Palestinian Authority residents, despite their status as enemy aliens, which it does on a regular basis.

Khalil, a resident of Hebron, is a construction worker who is helping to build a new housing project in Petah Tikva. He has to sleep in Qalqilyah during the week to get to work, returning to his family only on the weekends. He gets up at 3 A.M. and heads to the Eyal crossing near Qalqilyah, where he pays the driver of a pirate van NIS 15 for transportation.

On Sunday, Khalil heard on the news that there would be a new bus transporting Palestinian laborers to and from the crossing point – and he was pleased.

The bus will cost him NIS 8.80. “That’s nothing,” he says. It’s a savings of NIS 12 in each direction, NIS 250 per month. Since he earns NIS 200 per day, that’s a significant amount, he says. At 4:20 Monday morning, he is already waiting for the special bus that will take him to work.

Clearly this is the most racist thing since the time the C train refused to take me to Chicago, even though it has the same letter.

At the same time, the activity on the ground Monday morning highlighted the upside to the reform: Thousands of workers who had been exploited by “pirate” vehicle drivers finally got good-quality, well-organized service from the state.

It took the workers a few minutes to understand where they needed to go and which buses were headed where, but they quickly asked to get on one of the two lines. The first is to Ra’anana and Kfar Sava, and the second is to Petah Tikva, Ramat Gan and Tel Aviv. Thousands pushed onto the Tel Aviv line. There weren’t enough buses to meet the demand. After a few minutes came the complaints and suggestions for improvement.

One man working on the Meier-on-Rothschild luxury tower asked why the Tel Aviv bus stopped at the northern train station and did not continue on to the Central Bus Station. A group of workers looking to get to Herzliya asked why the Ra’anana–Kfar Sava line wasn’t extended to Herzliya. Many wondered about the buses’ return times. Several workers asked for buses to run on Fridays as well, since they pay “pirate” drivers even on Fridays. Representatives of the Afikim bus company and Lt. Col. Adel Masalha, the district coordination liaison, noted all the comments and promised changes in the near future.

Based on his name, Lt. Col. Adel Masalha is probably a Druze Muslim, to the extent that Druze can be considered Muslims.

Unknown assailants have set fire to two buses which Israel began operating as Palestinians-only lines to be used by Palestinian labourers travelling between the West Bank and Israel.

“Two buses were apparently set on fire but we are looking into all possibilities,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP news agency on Tuesday, saying the incident took place in the Arab-Israeli town of Kfar Qassem which lies very close to the Green Line.

It may have been a protest by the “pirate bus” owners who fear losing business to the Israeli buses. Or just the usual vandalism and destruction for the sake of destruction.

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.

Edward Cline

This is the funniest story ever since Seinfeld's Cosmo Kramer took the wheel of a Fifth Avenue bus from a hijacker and while fighting the hijacker kept letting people off because they kept ringing the bell.

Steve

Paki you need to learn to express yourself with some dignity. Have you ever been to school past grade 4? You lack the ability to construct a proper sentence or debate. Maybe you should go back to school.

Yes, and if you relocate to any one of the fabulous islamofascist states of the OIC you'll never be bothered by zionists again, or Hindus, or Bahais, or Sikhs, or Buddhists. So what's stopping you? Your paradise awaits Abdullah!

Mary Sue

aww man I missed what he said!

Steve

Why can't Israel get on the radio, television, newspaper and any other media and explain prior to the bus service offered what they are doing and and what the schedule is? There is such negative propaganda spewed out from people that look to diss the Israelis at every turn. The Israeli government should create a department of honest reporting to set the record straight. Israel has lost the propaganda war years ago and it is only getting worse.

Gee

Because to the leftist supporters of fascism minor issues like facts aren't as much fun as inventing things

Spikey1

Clearly it is racist, there are signs all over the bus loading zone that state:

• Keep your; hands, feet, and rocket launchers inside the bus at all times.
• No Shirt, No Shoes, No Head Scarf, No Service.
• Stow your luggage and IEDs in either; the overhead bins or under the seat in front of you.
• No; Hummus, Mahshi, Falafels or Mint water allowed.
• Remain seated quietly while the ride is in operation i.e no getting up and yelling allahu akbar.
• Girls between the ages of 6 and 16 are not permitted – for their own safety.
• Pregnant and elderly women must ride in the back.
• Cellphones must be turned off for the risk of an accidental explosion is too great.
• For the health and safety of all passengers; please shower in the morning prior to riding the bus.

This is just a short list, I simply noted a few examples, there are a hundred more.
If you've see these signs feel free to add to my list with a reply.

Do I really need to say it? Fine I will: Sarc.

Lan Astaslem

no camels allowed unless they are service animals, ya know, seeing eye camels.

Spikey1

I was going to say something along those lines: Service Goats….

Mary Sue

some night vision goggle video will give whole new meaning to "Service Goats". Or service Donkeys, as the case may be…

Spikey1

Mr. Greenfield,
I'm surprised you didn't touch upon the; Mexico and New Mexico segregation zone.
Is that because; these days that line is becoming a bit more blurry?

Mary Sue

Wow, the Palestinian Authority has learned well from their cheerleaders on the Left.

Just as an aside, I heard somewhere that the Druze basically worship "Lucifer" (the Devil), something about how since he's the 'god of this world', that he's the one that should be worshipped or something.

'Avner Ovadia, a transport ministry spokesperson, said there was no official ban on Palestinian workers travelling on public buses. “Furthermore, the transport ministry is not authorised to stop any passenger travelling on these bus routes,” he said. But drivers with the Afikim bus company, which operates the Trans-Samaria route, said Palestinians attempting to use the regular services would be pointed towards a different bus. “We are not allowed to refuse service and we will not order anyone to get off the bus, but from what we were told … there will be checks at the checkpoint, and Palestinians will be asked to board their own buses,” one driver told Ynet, an Israeli news website.

Would anyone with knowledge of these allegations care to comment on them?